back to article Guy Kewney dies at 63

Veteran technology writer Guy Kewney died this morning. He had been suffering from bowel and liver cancer for over a year. Guy had been a force in UK tech journalism UK since the 1960s, writing for magazines including Electronics Weekly, Computing, and New Scientist. He was perhaps most famously associated with Personal …

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  1. Gordon 10
    Unhappy

    Sad Sad day

    I must have read hundreds of his articles over the years.

  2. Mike Shepherd
    Unhappy

    One of the few

    One of the few IT journalists who really will be missed.

  3. Andus McCoatover
    Unhappy

    Luv-a-duck.

    Didn't expect this so early in his life.

    I've read so, so many of his articles. Good By-line "The man who made Britain love computers" was about right.

    His writings must've had an influence on tens of thousands of us beginners.

    Sad loss.

  4. Small Mind
    Unhappy

    Very sad..

    I remember Guy's writings from my earliest days of PCW. As a spotty teenager he provided me with my knowledge of the real world of computing. Great memories, and RIP Guy.

  5. El Richard Thomas

    Sad news

    I only knew of him through his articles on El Reg, but I really liked his take on the telecoms industry and enjoyed his style of writing. RIP Guy

  6. Piro Silver badge
    Unhappy

    I have many, many copies of PCW in my attic

    Stretching back many years (although I haven't bought any in recent times).

    Sad to hear, and he sounded like an all round good bloke.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Damn, that's sad.

    Type your comment here — plain text only, no HTML

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Time for one of my favourite Elton John tracks

    From Rocket Man:

    Song for Guy.

    On loop for the rest of the day, in his honour.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Guy Goma

    He was most famously associated with being impresonated by Guy Goma. Seriously, more people know that than about his work with PCW. Which is a shame because that was an excellent magazine - largely thanks to him - and is what got me interested enough to persue a career in the IT industry.

    RIP.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A fine journalist - he'll be sorely missed

    I remember paging eagerly through the magazine to find Guy's column. Whatever else might be in there, I knew he would have something important and interesting to say, he would say it efficiently and wittily, and his writing would be backed up by impeccable research and long experience.

  11. Peter Galbavy
    Unhappy

    lots of memories

    I remember many of his articles, especially in PCW "back in the day". RIP.

  12. Rich 2 Silver badge
    Unhappy

    A hero!

    Very sad to hear this.

    I was still at school in the early 80's, just getting interested in the ZX81s and VIC20s and suchlike. Even then, I was always drawn to Guy Kewney's articles, regardless of what he was discussing; from the serious articles in PC World to the somewhat lighter ones in "Computer & Video Games". Definitely influenced me a lot and always spurred me on to dig deeper and look at stuff that I would probably have ignored otherwise.

    Definitely a hero.

  13. Simon Reed
    Unhappy

    I'll buy him that beer in heaven.

    I have been waiting for the chance to tell that bloke how much I admire him for decades.

    He'll just have to wait a bit longer for the beer.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The BBC News 24 incident

    What, no mention of the infamous BBC TV News incident where he was supposed to be interviewed live about some Apple news, but they fetched the wrong 'Guy' from reception and put him on air instead?

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Are we sure it was Guy Kewney?

    http://biased-bbc.blogspot.com/2006/05/i-ad-that-guy-kewney-in-back-of-my-cab.html

    Sad to hear of his passing.

  16. Tony S
    Unhappy

    So sad

    Unfortunately, I wasn't aware that he had been ill - only just recently, I realised that I hadn't seen anything by him for a while.

    I never met Guy, but like many others enjoyed his writing. I had the opportunity to share a couple of discussions with him and agree that he had an excellent knowledge of technology and a great way of making his point. There is no question that he will be sorely missed.

    Requiescat in pace

  17. Snafu 2
    Pint

    A good friend and an excellent journalist will be sorely missed

    RIP Guy

    :((

  18. Oz
    Unhappy

    Will be sadly missed

    Guy was an excellent journalist who will be sadly missed. Like many others have said here it was PCW that kept my early interest in IT, but even in the last few years I was always fascinated hearing him talk about IT issues on BBC News. My sincerest condolences to his wife and daughters.

    1. Douglas Smith

      RIP Guy

      Not only was his the most often read article in PCW but he also ran a good ( or always interesting ) set of topics on CIX for years

  19. Conrad Longmore
    Unhappy

    <sigh>

    He will be sadly missed.. I think most people who work in IT of my age have been influenced by his writing. But he certainly made a positive contribution and will be fondly remembered.. can you really ask for more than that from life?

  20. Duncan Robertson 1
    Pint

    Adding my tuppence

    RIP Guy. Sadly missed. Enjoyed the articles whilst he was here.

  21. Kirk Northrop
    Unhappy

    How sad

    How sad - one of the few journalists I trusted the opinion of, and who always seemed such a genuinely nice guy.

    He will be well missed, I'm sure.

  22. FatBloke

    Sad. Very.

    So sorry to hear the news of Guy's passing.

    A name so familiar to me throughout the years.

    R.I.P.

  23. DaveB

    Very sad news

    Like most older IT people Guy helped us migrate from punch cards and paper tape to the new world of the PC via the ZX80, Spectrum and BBC micro.

    As an avid reader of PCW before the WWW was invented I enjoyed his writing even if at times I totally disagreed with his analysis.

    Guy will be greatly missed because he actually knew what he was writing about.

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Shocking news. Really sad

    Gosh, that's a shock. He's a fixture as far as IT journalism is concerned.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Been in IT for 34 years

    And never heard of him until today - admittedly I wouldn't have read any of the paper works he published, not really my kind of thing; but hadn't even seen his name on el reg.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Troll

      In the UK ?

      If you're in the UK then you're a hermit...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      do you work in IT or with IT?

      I guess you like your doctor to be practicing as he did when he qualified too? you need to keep up with the industry! not be a dinosaur.

      Times change, industries change, and sadly people change, RIP Guy.

    3. Lucy Sherriff 1
      WTF?

      Then why comment?

      Seriously? A man has died, his family is in mourning, and you go trolling?

      Thank you to everyone else for such kind words. It is very much appreciated.

  26. Jimmy Blake

    A giant in UK tech journalism

    I was interviewed twice by Guy in 2008 for an article he was writing on cloud computing. It was weird being interviewed by someone whose articles in Personal Computer World had been so instrumental in my decision to pursue a career in computing in the 1980s.

    He never lost his insight into not just technology, but also the impact that it has on society.

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A man who made a difference

    I'm an Apricot veteran and I well remember his work on PCW and the reviews of some of our early kit. They were wild west days and the times needed larger than life characters like him. Very very sad to hear of his passing.

  28. f1rest0rm

    Same from me ...

    His articles were always the first I turned to when a new PCW came out.

    RIP

  29. Iain Turnbull
    Pint

    He will be sadly missed

    Intelligent, well-informed and funny to boot - the best tech journalist I ever read. Very sad news. Here's to you, Guy.

  30. The Fuzzy Wotnot
    Pint

    Take it easy old salt...

    Incredibly sad day. How many of us now owe our livlihoods to Guy K.? He truly did make us love our machines and got so many of us into careers in IT, helping to put the UK and its IT talent on the map!

  31. Stuart Castle Silver badge
    Unhappy

    A sad loss.

    Guy was probably the man who helped me get into computers (or at least understand what I was getting into) the most.. He had an amazing knack of taking some quite complicated equipment or concepts and explaining them in a way that most people with a minimum of technical knowledge could understand. He managed to do this without patronising those who know more. A rare talent indeed.

  32. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Sad

    I remember being interviewed by him when we were launching a new piece of kit a few years back. I don't think I've ever felt so in awe of any tech journalist as I did of Guy. He asked a couple of very insightful questions which had us floored for a moment until I replied with a decidedly un-company line response. I may have stunned my colleagues, but at least I got a laugh from Guy. He'll certainly be missed.

  33. sT0rNG b4R3 duRiD
    Pint

    Rest in peace

    I never knew the guy but I just read his blog and truly salute him.

    Have a beer! RIP

  34. Clyde

    A tribute to Guy Kewney

    Thank you Guy for all the very informational articles over the years. You have been one of the best writers in this field ever. Too many writers cover up their own lack of knowledge with verbosity and jargon - you never did that, just straight, understandable, and very good reading at the same time.

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Coffee/keyboard

    @Bit Fiddler

    Agreed... it was a really great live TV moment that I'm surprised has gone without mention:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5evS-ApSNQ

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